Donovan Mitchell diary: ‘I prefer this over 15-0’

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Since the arrival of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970, there has only been one player in franchise history who has averaged over 30 points per game for a season: LeBron James on two occasions.

It’s early, but current Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell is trying to give James some company.

Mitchell entered Tuesday averaging a career-best 29.9 points for the Cavs. The six-time All-Star scored a season-high 46 points in a win over Philadelphia on Nov. 5 and entered Tuesday averaging career highs in field goal percentage (50.3). The NBA rewarded Mitchell for his recent play by naming him the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games Nov. 17-23.

For his hot start, Mitchell has given fiancée Coco Jones “a lot of credit.”

“As a player, you’re really trying to just be the best that you can be, right?” Mitchell told Andscape. “The work. The film study. The sacrifices you make, whether it’s changing your diet, what you do in your treatments. So, when I get there on the floor, I’m calm. But also, I’m really at peace with myself with where I’m at. You spend so much of your life trying to prove, prove, prove. The underdog, the underdog. And I still feel like I am that in a sense. I still feel like I don’t get the credit I deserve, which, you know, I understand.

“But when you’re finally at a place where you’re at peace, but also life is peaceful. When you find a person that really brings you to a space of calm. When you’re in a calm space in life and realize that basketball isn’t just the end all, be all, you’re able to be in a position mentally that you just don’t know until you’re there. And I give [Jones] a lot of credit for that, and I appreciate her for that because she brings me that as well as what I do, obviously.”

During the 2025-26 NBA season, Mitchell is sharing insight into his life on and off the court with the Cavaliers in his monthly diary on Andscape. Draymond Green, Vince Carter, Trae Young, CJ McCollum, Fred VanVleet, De’Aaron Fox, Cade Cunningham, James Wiseman, Josh Jackson, Bradley Beal and, most recently, Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, have participated in previous Andscape diaries.

Mitchell entered this season averaging 24.7 points, 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 539 regular-season games for the Cavaliers and the Utah Jazz during eight seasons. The former University of Louisville star is also a two-time All-NBA selection and winner of the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk contest. The 2025 All-NBA first-team selection led the Cavs to an Eastern Conference-best 64-18 record after starting last season 15-0, but their title hopes were dashed with a crushing loss in the second round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. The Cavaliers (12-7) have already had adversity this season with starting point guard Darius Garland mostly sidelined due to injury and other key players missing action.

“With 15-0 you always are going to say, ‘We’re going to learn. We’re going to learn.’ But are you if you’re going out there winning by 20, winning by 25, sitting in the fourth quarter…?” Mitchell said. “I think now we’re having to gut some wins out, having to have tough losses, seeing different coverages, seeing teams guard you differently, and this is all without DG [Garland] and Max [Strus]. So, when we get them back, continue to take those steps.

“Obviously, you want to go 15-0, right. But for myself and for us as a team I’m OK here because this is showing us so many different lessons within the first 15, 16 games.”

Below is Mitchell’s second diary entry recorded from the Cavaliers’ practice facility on Nov. 20. As told to Andscape senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears, Mitchell talks about Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka saying he centered his defense on stopping him; his love for watching the Dallas Cowboys and not eating turkey on Thanksgiving; why Jones is the greatest singer of all-time; his advice to Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders; the NBA All-Star Game’s new World vs. USA format; his visit back to the University of Louisville for a basketball game against rival Kentucky, and much more.

Naturally, I feel like I’m going to score. But to get to the point where I’ve been this year being efficient, to get my teammates involved, me having a lasting impact on the game, to have a coach [Udoka] come out there and say that is big time and a testament to the work I’ve put in. But at the end of the day, too, he said they won and they did. I didn’t allow it, but their gameplan worked.

Every night, my challenge is to figure out how to be the best player for my team. And [on Nov. 19], I wasn’t that until really the fourth quarter. Even by then, it was too late. On a nightly basis, that’s your challenge to figure out how you can be in spots and put yourself in positions to be the best player you can be for your team. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen [against Houston]. But it’s definitely an honor and it comes with the territory of being ‘that guy.’ My teammates and coaches trust me and it makes it that much easier.

Honestly, this [slow season] start, I love it. If you were to tell me before the season that Jaylon Tyson, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Craig Porter and Tyrese Proctor would all have significant minutes, significant roles and would be playing at a very high level when we haven’t even played our best basketball yet, I wouldn’t have believed it. To see those guys take the work that they put into themselves, be in the facility, come with me — I kidnap them for the parts of the summer to come workout. They continue to take the steps that are ultimately going to help us because we don’t have Max right now, we don’t have DG, Sam [Merrill] is in and out. So, Zo [Lonzo Ball] is obviously in and out. I’ve been out. Ev [Evan Mobley] has been out. Dre [De’Andre Hunter] has been out.

But those guys have consistently been there for us. We’re going to need that come playoff time. You look at OKC [Oklahoma City], they’re going 10, 12, 15 deep. You look at Indiana. You look at Denver. You look at all these teams that are on at that level. So being able to go through these experiences without having DG, Max and myself and Evan and Dre and JA [Jarrett Allen] to have to elevate our games to elevate those around us, I prefer this over 15-0 because you never really know where you’re at.

Process over outcome basically means that eventually, at some point, the outcome will matter. You want to be the highest seed. You want to play your best basketball the right time. But I think being process-based instead of being result-based is understanding that if you look and feel like we’re trending in the right direction the work is always going to prevail at some point. But if you feel we’re getting box outs, we’re not turning the ball over, we’re making our free throws, we’re getting back in transition, we’re holding teams to one shot, one possession — if you’re doing all those things eventually the results will follow. And the reason why we are where we are is because we haven’t had a great four quarters of basketball but maybe once. …

Family at games is special. It’s my fourth year now [in Cleveland]. But I tell people all the time my first year in Cleveland I had more people come to my games here than my first five years in Utah. My first five years in Utah I probably had a select group that would only come at certain points in times.

I haven’t met Shedeur [Sanders], but I’m just a fan of obviously that family and a kid who’s continually trying to elevate himself to the highest level, especially with the level of scrutiny he’s under in different things. We’re never perfect at that age, right? There are always different things. But to see him continue to grow, just from looking up from the outside in, I’m excited for his first start. It’ll be exciting with what he’s done to get the city going. [Browns defensive end] Myles [Garrett] is a Hall of Famer and is probably, in my opinion, the best at his position ever to play this game.

Hopefully, we [the Browns] get some wins. But there was a time when I just drove to the Browns Stadium and asked security if I could just go stand on the field and just look. That’s the type of person I am. That stuff was really cool to me. Being able to see other sports, other athletes, other arenas, stadiums, just being that person looking and being in the arena outside of just basketball. And going to the Guardians games, seeing Jose Ramirez, who’s an MVP candidate and is having a statue built soon. There are so many different guys. Just being able to see the other teams in the city thrive.

The biggest advice I’d give is to keep the main thing, the main thing. And I think [Sanders is] finding that out. I think he’s seeing that. This is all from just an outside perspective. There’s going to be noise. Whether he plays well for the next five games or plays poorly, there’s going to be noise, regardless. Can he do it for six? Can he do it for seven? If he plays badly, it’s going to be something. There is always going to be some type of critic. For him, [keep his] head down because everything for him seems to be taken out of context. But just keep doing your thing and lock in on the work and everything else will take care of itself.

It was my first time back to U of L and Louisville in like nine years. The last time I was there was my last game against Notre Dame. Once we found out I was out for the game against Miami, I was like, ‘I’m going for that [Kentucky game] trip.’ I’ve done a lot for the program. They’ve done a lot for me. I’m close with [guard] Mikel [Brown], close with [guard Ryan] Conwell, close with a lot of guys on the team that came to my camp this summer. So, [head coach] Pat [Kelsey] is amazing. Everybody over there was amazing.

I was just able to go back and watch a game in the environment that really made me. And what better game than the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry? We hadn’t won since I’d been there, maybe I’m missing one game. But just to be able to go back to see that, sometimes you just need that. That goes back to what I’m saying about just life as a human, you just need certain things. I call it filling up your cup. Sometimes the season can just be a lot — you’re playing a lot, doing different things. Something like that just gives you a boost because it’s just fun. For me, being at a sporting event like that, feeling the love from the fans, the Louisville faithful and also to get a win, that was awesome.

The All-Star Game, I’m just blessed to be a part of it. I think for me, it could be East versus West. It could be USA [versus] international, like it is. I don’t have a preference. I just think, ‘Hey, let’s just find a way to up the level.’ But it’s an ongoing thing, and it’s an ongoing topic, and I don’t have the answer that everybody’s kind of searching for. It’s just a blessing, man. And I never want to go skip over that. It’s a blessing whether it’s being voted in by the fans or voted in by the coaches — just to be able to be in that game, to be one of the best, it’s truly special.”

According to my mom and dad, I was banging pots as a kid. And then in fourth grade, I joined the band at the school as an art requirement. And then next thing you know, I’m playing [drums] every day. I’m getting to school early for band practice and concerts. And it’s just something that I’ve just had my whole life and I think now is just the time to kind of show everybody. I played it a little bit, probably about seven years ago or so. But this past [CarMax commercial], just letting people kind of see me in that space was, I guess the time is now to let everybody know I can do something special.

I haven’t practiced with [Jones’] band. I told her she needs to let me be her deejay or in her band. So, at some point, you will see me on tour being one of those guys. I’m dead serious. I don’t know if she’s serious, but I’m dead serious.

I used to deejay at boarding school a lot because there’s really nothing to do up in New Hampshire on winter nights. So, when I was there, I’d just find a way to get up there. And I’m pretty solid to the point where even she was impressed. So, if I ever have the time in the offseason, I’ll be sure to open up [one of her shows] for her.

I think she’s the best ever. She is. Fortunately, I’ve had her music a year before that comes out. So, by the time it comes out it is probably like my 100th time listening to the song. But she’s the best R&B artist. She’s the best artist to ever come out. So, like, you can’t tell me anything else, right? I don’t care who it is. I don’t care what the discussion is. And even when she tries to downplay her stuff, I don’t allow it just because I know how talented she is. And any chance I get that I can get to promote her and to put her on a pedestal that she deserves, I’m going to.

I don’t really care if it’s overkill just because she’s that level of an artist, that level of a person. And she deserves the world. And she deserves it because she puts a lot of her time in and the music’s fire. She’s just amazing at what she does.

We live in a world where if you don’t win a championship, if you don’t have a certain accolade or a certain number this, then you’re just not good. This is how the world thinks. But in the community — the real basketball community, you know — those who know, know. That’s ultimately what matters most, right? Because if I’m out here waiting for the fans to appreciate everything that I’ve done — obviously, Cleveland fans love me — but if I’m waiting for the masses to appreciate what I’ve done, then I’m going to be sitting here for a long time and feeling really empty inside.

Because even the greatest of our game, [Michael] Jordan, Kobe [Bryant], ’Bron [LeBron James], they all have people [who argue against them]. There’s arguments of why they aren’t good or the greatest. There’s always going to be something. So, I understand that we live in a world where if you don’t win at the highest level, you’re not necessarily the best or necessarily really good at what you do.

That just comes with the territory and, at the end of the day, that is a team thing. So, we had to find a way to get my team to that level. That’s my main focus. But I get it. It’s just the world we live in.

[I’m] Not the biggest Thanksgiving guy. I am, in a sense of I want to watch the [Dallas] Cowboys on Thanksgiving and eat unhealthy food. But since I’ve been in the league, it’s been hard because you play the next day. So, it’s like, I can’t really eat what I want to eat. I can’t really just chill on a couch all day. You still gonna eat and be in work mode? So, I haven’t really been a Thanksgiving guy. Obviously, I love having my family, having people over and being thankful for what you have in life. But more so I get to watch football and get to be with my friends and family and just have a good time.

My plate is very simple. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and yams. I could probably eat three or four plates of that. But I’m at a point now in my life where I probably need three or four days to recover from that. So maybe one plate. I’m more of a ham person than turkey, to be honest. Turkey never really appealed to me.

It’s interesting. As I’ve gotten to be who I am, I’ve been closer with the guys on the actual [Cowboys] team. So, my fandom is more so player based than team based. But it’s something that I’ve tried. I even said on Twitter, like, ‘I’m done being a Cowboys fan after Micah [Parsons] got traded because Micah is my boy.’ I’m a [Baltimore] Ravens fan, too, because of [former Louisville quarterback) Lamar [Jackson]. I grew up watching [the Cowboys] with my dad on Thanksgiving. That’s how I became a fan. And now I more so root with the team not having success. I root for Dak [Prescott], CeeDee [Lamb], Trayvon [Diggs], guys like that to try to have big nights.

I’m thankful for my family. I’m thankful for my friends. I’m thankful for basketball, for God giving me this ability to go out on a daily basis and be able to play the game I love at a high level; to be able to continue to achieve things that I didn’t think were achievable; to be able to provide for my family for generations; to be able to have an impact on individuals who, you know, whether it’s through playing [NBA] 2K with random fans; or going to a Thanksgiving food drive; or going to a local high school game; or seeing somebody at the mall and making their day or making their year.

I’m thankful for all the interactions I’ve been able to have that this platform has given me — just to be able to give people an experience that may change their life. That’s something that I hold really near and dear to myself because you never know what that experience does for an individual, especially the kids. That’s first and foremost. So, I’m just very blessed and thankful to be able to be one of those people that people look up to, and I’m able to use my platform to keep giving back.

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